


Most Days

by wannabespacesmuggler



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bonding Over Drinking, Bonding Over Study Sessions, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jim really can't keep it in his pants, Lots of Academy Shenanigans, Maybe some angst, Mutual Pining, Recruit!Jim, Recruit!Leonard, Recruit!Reader, Slow Burn, Starfleet Academy, but hey at least you've got Leonard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannabespacesmuggler/pseuds/wannabespacesmuggler
Summary: Maybe you should be thanking Jim Kirk for flirting with your roommate at a bar one night as it allowed you to meet his grumpy best friend, Leonard McCoy. But you’re pretty sure that’d only fuel his ego and that’s definitely not something you want to do.~ Some Starfleet Academy drabbles about you, your mess of a roommate, everyone’s favorite homewrecker, and your favorite cranky medical student ~
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	1. Not Your Babysitter, My Ass.

**Author's Note:**

> I used to have a fanfic called Lacuna that I took down because I really liked the idea of it but wasn’t proud of the final version – which ultimately lead to me abandoning the series. I’ve been stuck in a little bit of a writing rut, but this came to me one night and I just ran with it – it takes a lot of inspiration from my previous fic but I’m much happier with this right now. So enjoy a Starfleet Academy drabble about you, your mess of a roommate, everyone’s favorite homewrecker, and your favorite cranky, medical student – maybe I’ll continue these.

"Live now; make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."

You can barely hear your roommate over the constant commotion erupting from the patrons of the rowdy bar. In hindsight, you should have known that the bar would be complete chaos: tonight marked the end of Starfleet Academy’s final examinations, and this bar, in particular, was the closest place to grab a drink for a young recruit like yourself. If someone were to tell you right now that every current Starfleet recruit in your class was at this bar, you honestly would not be able to disprove them -- there are really that many people packed into these four walls and there isn’t a uniform in sight. Starfleet recruits may be stereotyped as brash, rebellious, and reckless; however, they are at least smart enough to know that they should partake in their ‘extracurricular’ activities without the Starfleet insignia slapped across their chest. You have to at least give them that. 

You didn’t think twice when your roommate brought up the idea of going out to grab a few drinks. You had just spent the last week cramming for your final examinations and had no time to do anything that vaguely resembled the idea of ‘fun’. It was basically ‘eat, study, sleep, repeat’ for a week straight. But now, you are done -- for a few weeks until another semester rolls around and you’re back to your normal routine. Nonetheless, all you want to do tonight is have a few drinks with your roommate, reminisce about your past shenanigans over the course of this semester, dance to a few songs that you most likely don’t know the name of, and happily collapse in your bed back at the Academy at an obscene hour. 

Your attention wanders to your phone which is currently lighting up on the counter. Your lips curve into a small smile as you read the caller ID that flashes across the screen: ‘Mom’. You lean into your roommate in an attempt to make it easier for your voice to be heard over the various conversations being had and the music blaring from the bar’s overhead speakers. 

“I have to step out for a second. Are you okay on your own?”

You feel her nod before responding.

“You’re not my babysitter.”

You know that the comment is just a light-hearted jab. She raises both of her eyebrows at you, almost challenging you to respond. You simply stick your tongue out at the girl which makes her break into laughter. Your concern may make you come off as overprotective; however, you can’t help it. You know your roommate well at this point -- very well. She’s had a few drinks which means she’s more bubbly than usual and she easily gets awestruck at any fresh recruit with ‘pretty eyes’. That’s how you’ve found yourself sleeping on the sofa in the common area of your dormitory on multiple occasions. You’d have no problem with her pursuit of these young men if they actually made her happy, however, a large percentage of the Starfleet recruits aren’t looking for anything too permanent which more times than not leaves her heartbroken. You are always there with junk food, packages of tissues, and a shoulder to cry on, but for once you’d like her to meet a boy that actually cares about her for longer than a week. 

The doors aren’t that far from your original spot at the bar; however, you have to bob and weave your way through the crowd. This makes your journey to the door much longer than you had first anticipated and you’re forced to answer the call while you’re still attempting to make your way outside.

“Hello?”

You raise your voice so that your mother can hear you. Your eyebrows furrow as you attempt to decipher the soft mumbling you can hear from the other end. Though most of what your mother says gets swept away in the surrounding ruckus, you’re able to just make out her last question:

“Where are you?”

“Hold on a second.”

You slide past the last patron who stood between you and the doors. Pushing forward, you are finally just outside of the bar. The cool night breeze feels like heaven against your skin. You weren’t aware of how warm it is inside until right now. Honestly, the thought of actually venturing on the decently long walk back to your room immediately crosses your mind, but two things are stopping you:

Your roommate is still inside enjoying herself and you know she’s not even close to being ready to head back to the Academy yet.  
You’re wearing one of your favorite pairs of shoes that you don’t often get to wear because they aren’t exactly what you’d call ‘comfortable’ and your feet are already beginning to hurt -- walking back would certainly be a death sentence. 

You answer the phone again and tell your mother that you’re currently out celebrating. The two of you chat for a few minutes about how your exams went and what you planned on doing in between semesters -- she, once again, reminds you that you could come home and visit her during the break and you, once again, tell her that you’ll think about it. The conversation ends quickly and now you can fully enjoy the lack of noise. The thought of going back into the stuffy building almost makes you groan, but you don’t want to keep your roommate waiting alone for too long. 

You enter the bar once again and immediately roll your eyes at what you see: your roommate sipping on a new drink and flirting with some new, hotshot recruit. She’s giggling at something he’s said and he leans even closer to her. 

Yeah, you guys definitely aren’t going anywhere soon.

“Not your babysitter, my ass.”

You weave your way through the crowd once again and find a new place at the bar. It isn’t long before another body settles next to you. He props his arms up on the counter, allowing him to lean into the bar. You glance over at the man, taking in his appearance. He seems to be a few years older than you, but still young enough to be a recruit. His hair is messy -- not an unkempt kind of messy, but the type of messy that practically begs you to run your hands through it. Dark facial hair accompanies his jawline, matching his brown, almost black hair -- it’s not enough to be intrusive but it’s still very present, you’d even consider calling it ‘tasteful’. He stands a good half foot taller than you and he’s far from what you’d call ‘scrawny’. You aren’t dumb, he’s obviously handsome.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

Although the man presents himself in a way that led you to assume that he’s from an urban background, there’s a slight twang to his voice. The way he dresses comes off as gruff city boy, but his voice tells a different story. It’s not thick enough for you to call it an accent, but you’d definitely characterize it as a southern ‘drawl’.

“Sorry cowboy, but the whole ‘southern charm’ schtick doesn’t work on this lady.”

You expect him to simply walk away, possibly grumble for a second. Instead, you find yourself surprised when the man’s chest rumbles with laughter. You glance at him once again. Your breath gets trapped in your chest as your eyes meet his. This must be what your roommate has meant all those times she’s gushed to you about bright-eyed boys. You never quite understood her fascination, but you must admit that you can picture yourself gushing over his eyes in the backseat of the cab during the drive back.

“Let’s call it ‘southern hospitality’ then.”

He’s grinning at you and you can’t help but smile back. He’s charismatic and witty and that’s dangerous -- especially for you. 

“And let’s call it an apology for him.”

He points a finger toward the end of the bar as he continues speaking. Your eyes follow in that direction, landing on your roommate and the man she is still flirting with. You erupt in laughter as you now realize that this must be as normal for him as it is for you. 

“As much as I’d like to accept your apology, I should probably apologize for her as well. I think both parties are at fault here.”

“Gotta love ‘em though, right?”

“Most days.”

He chuckles at your words and shifts his body so that his body is now facing yours, allowing his demeanor to become friendlier. You hate to admit it, but the man seems different. And you suppose that you wouldn’t entirely loathe having him around right now. So, you mimic his actions and shift your body to face his, your demeanor matching his.

He introduces himself as Leonard and you allow him to buy you that drink.


	2. You aren't her type.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe you should be thanking Jim Kirk for flirting with your roommate at a bar one night as it allowed you to meet his grumpy best friend, Leonard McCoy. But you’re pretty sure that’d only fuel his ego and that’s definitely not something you want to do.

“You’re kidding me!”

You almost spit out your drink as Leonard recounts one of his many outings with his roommate, the man you now know as ‘Jim’. Apparently the two have frequented this bar regularly during their first year at Starfleet Academy. From Leonard’s stories, you were beginning to understand the nature of his relationship with Jim. Jim is the impulsive, energetic, lighthearted recruit that no one can possibly keep up with, while Leonard seems to be Jim’s,  _ somewhat _ , level-headed, brash, and dependable keeper. You understand the position that Jim puts Leonard in on their many nights out well. You are no stranger to taking care of a drunk roommate. It’s an unspoken understanding between you and your roommate that you’re the responsible one at the end of the night that gets everyone home -- the designated driver of sorts.

“I wish I was. He really hit on this girl right in front of her boyfriend.”

“How did that end?”

“Well, obviously the boyfriend wasn’t very happy and I had to step in between them so a fight didn’t break out.”

“That’s crazy.”

Leonard nods and takes another sip of his drink. He’s a whiskey man. You can’t help but think that he looks like a whiskey man. He’s got a  _ ruggedness  _ about him, but he also comes off as somewhat  _ dignified _ . He certainly wouldn’t be caught dead drinking one of the fruity drinks your roommate sips on at the bar. The sugary concoction would look ridiculous in Leonard’s hands. The glass of whiskey he has clasped between both his hands just looks right.

Leonard’s eyes meet yours as you openly admire him. He expects you to get flustered and look away, but instead, your lips pull up into a small smile and your head comes to rest on your hand as your elbow rests against the bar. His brow furrows as he attempts to figure you out. He doesn’t talk to a lot of women at the academy --  _ Jim is enough trouble for him _ . The few times he’d talk to a woman during their nights out, they’d have nice conversation --  _ simple conversation _ \-- nothing too special. He’d compliment them on something like their smile or the dress they’d picked out that night --  _ like his momma taught him _ \-- and they’d blush and tell him that he was just ‘ _ too sweet _ ’. And at the end of the night, he’d accompany them back to their room to make sure they got home alright. A few goodnight kisses, a few phone numbers he’s surely lost by now, but nothing serious. You weren’t like any of those women though. You weren’t playing coy with him and he certainly wasn’t going to walk you home at the end of the night. You are bold and confident and more than capable to not only take care of yourself but also your roommate; however, here you are, looking at him like he’d just told you he was the one who hung the stars in the sky. Before he can even consider if this was possibly a _ moment _ , he is rudely interrupted by an arm around his shoulders.

“Looks like Bones made himself a friend!”

Jim is plastered. He leans against Leonard for stability, putting all of his weight onto his friend. Thank God Leonard is much larger than him -- if this were the other way around they would be  _ screwed _ . Leonard’s face twists into disgust as he breathes in and notices that Jim reeks of the cheap beer he had been drinking all night. For how often the two go out to drink, Jim still can’t seem to figure out his limits. Leonard knows exactly what tomorrow morning is going to look like for them. He will get up at seven o’clock on the dot -- _ like every other morning _ \-- go for a jog, take a shower, and have a hot cup of coffee before Jim even gets up. When he finally does he’ll complain about how bad his head hurts and how sick he feels while making Leonard promise to  _ never let him drink like that again _ . Leonard will nod his head and tell him ‘sure thing’ knowing damn well that the next time they’re at the bar Jim will completely ignore his advice to ‘slow down on the drinks’. He also has a feeling that you’re in a very similar conundrum.

“Who is this?”

Your roommate finally wanders towards you all and wraps her arms around your shoulders, shifting all of her weight onto you. The scene is almost comical: Jim latched onto Leonard and your roommate clinging onto you. It feels as though you and Leonard are the responsible parents at the end of the night, making sure everyone has a ride and gets home safe from a party. You laugh at your roommate and introduce her to Leonard. She giggles at his response before turning her attention back to Jim. Leonard shifts his attention back to you, confusion evident on his face. You offer him a small shrug in response. 

“You aren’t her type.”

Leonard’s brow furrows at what you said, taking in the realization. He doesn’t really care about that, she’s not the one he’s been talking with all night at the bar; however, he was at least expecting a quick conversation. You take his silence and continued confusion as a sign to explain further.

“You don’t look like you’ll break her heart.”

Your eyes shift to Jim who has left Leonard’s side, an arm is now wrapped around your roommate. She clings onto Jim with both arms as he listens to your conversation with Leonard. You aren’t wrong though. Leonard doesn’t fit into the typical, male Starfleet recruit mold. _ Jim does _ . Hell, if you were to look it up in the dictionary there would be a picture of Jim Kirk. Leonard, however, is a little too mature to fit into that stereotype. You're not sure if it’s due to the fact that he’s pushing thirty while most other recruits are in their early twenties or due to his ‘ _ I just don’t give a shit anymore’ _ attitude. Whatever it is, you definitely prefer it to the alternative.

“Ouch. I’m offended,  _ sweetheart. _ ”

His voice is dripping with sarcasm and he holds his free hand over his heart, to show just how ‘ _ hurt’ _ he is by your comment. He’s cocky, the grin on his face after your jab proves it. If Jim wasn’t trying to hook up with your roommate you may actually have found him  _ likable _ , but right now you find him  _ unbearable _ . He seems to understand this. Well, at least he’s somewhat intelligent -- that’s a step-up from some of your roommate’s previous flings.

Your roommate either didn’t care about your comment or is too drunk to notice, as she hasn’t glanced in your direction once throughout this conversation. Either way, it’s concerning. You use this moment to tell her that you both better start heading back. Leonard quickly agrees and tells Jim that they should head back as well. Since you and Leonard seem to be the only functioning adults in the group right now, you both pull out your communicators and call for some cabs -- there’s no way that either Jim or your roommate will be able to walk back to their quarters tonight. 

The four of you make your way outside the bar, waiting for the cabs to arrive. Jim and your roommate stand in front of you, continuing to flirt with one another just as they had all night in the bar, while Leonard stands next to you. You ignore the flirting and instead look up to the night sky.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

Leonard glances at you and then follows your gaze to the sky. 

“What’s that?”

“The way the stars shine.”

Leonard shifts his gaze from the sky to you. He truly doesn’t understand the fascination for things outside of this world, he is here simply because he knows what he’s good at. You, however, can’t wait for space exploration and discovery; Leonard can tell by the look on your face as you observe every star in the night sky above. He may not be fascinated by the cosmos, but he is fascinated by the moon tonight as the light reflecting off the large rock softens your face. Leonard is taken aback by how beautiful you are in this moment but quickly recovers. 

“How many drinks did you have?”

You roll your eyes at his comment and his lips curl up into a small smile. 

“Shut up.”

You knock his arm with your shoulder. It’s a playful gesture. Leonard may even qualify this as flirting.  _ Man, is he pissed that he has to take Jim home tonight _ . However, instead of wallowing in his disappointment, he shifts his gaze back to the sky. The two of you continue to watch the stars in silence, shoulder-to-shoulder until a pair of headlights catch your attention. 

“This is our cab.”

Leonard nods and watches wordlessly as you approach it. You open the door and usher your roommate into the back before turning around. Your eyes meet his and it feels like he can’t breathe. He knows that this is quite possibly the  _ first and last _ encounter he’ll ever have with you. 

“Catch you later,  _ Cowboy _ .”

“See you around,  _ Starshine _ .”


End file.
